Many electronic devices enable voice communication. These devices often face practical problems such as echo, noisy environments and so forth. In the case of echo, a communication device receives a far end signal from a far end talker typically over a network. The far end signal may be played via a loudspeaker of the communication device while a near end talker is speaking into microphones of the communication device. The near end talker may be relatively far away from the microphones as compared to a distance of the loudspeaker from the microphones. Accordingly, sound played out of the loudspeaker corresponding to the far end signal may echo and reach the microphones at roughly the same time as sound from the near end talker. This situation is referred to as “double talk”.
The performance of the communication device is degraded when the device fails to properly detect double talk, for instance, when the echo canceller continues to adapt during double talk periods, it might diverge and hence unable to remove the echo. Additionally, the presence of background noise from sources such as TV, radio, microwave, or other devices in the room, may further contribute to decreased acoustic performance of the device when attempting to listen to the intended near talker. It is desired to improve the acoustic performance by minimizing the effects of background noise and accurately detect double talk for improved echo canceller performance.